Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 19
य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम्।
उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते।।
उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते।।
ya enaṁ vetti hantāraṁ yaś cainaṁ manyate hatam
ubhau tau na vijānīto nāyaṁ hanti na hanyate
also searched as "ya enam vetti hantaram yash chainam manyate hatam"
Translation
He who considers It (the self) to be the slayer, and he who thinks of It as slain—both are ignorant. For, the self neither slays nor is being slain.
Vāṇi's rendering
Whoever thinks it kills, whoever thinks it dies — both are wrong. It neither kills nor is killed.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यःya | whoever |
| एनम्enaṁ | this one — the self within |
| वेत्तिvetti | takes it to be, believes |
| हन्तारम्hantāraṁ | the killer, the one who slays |
| यःyaḥ | and whoever (yaś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| एनम्enaṁ | this one |
| मन्यतेmanyate | thinks, supposes |
| हतम्hatam | killed, slain |
| उभौubhau | both |
| तौtau | those two |
| नna | not |
| विजानीतःvijānītaḥ | do they understand (vijānīto before the following na) |
| नna | not (na, joined with ayaṁ as nāyaṁ) |
| अयम्ayaṁ | this one |
| हन्तिhanti | kills |
| नna | nor |
| हन्यतेhanyate | is killed |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 19 mean?
It corrects two beliefs at once. The one who imagines himself the killer and the one who mourns the killed are both looking at the wrong thing. What they see ending is the body. The self within — enam — neither strikes nor receives the strike. Krishna is not excusing the deed; he is naming what cannot be touched by it.
What is the meaning of ya enam vetti hantaram yash chainam manyate hatam?
Whoever takes this self to be the slayer, and whoever takes it to be the slain — neither one has understood. Both mistake the field for the knower of it. The verse puts the swaggering warrior and the grieving mourner in the same sentence, and calls them equally mistaken.
Does this verse justify killing?
No. It removes pride and horror, not responsibility. Krishna spends the rest of the Gītā on how to act rightly — duty, restraint, freedom from craving for results. If the self were an excuse for slaughter, none of that teaching would follow. What ends here is your fantasy of being the author of life and death.
How does this help someone who is grieving?
It does not ask you to stop weeping. The body was real and its going is real. But the verse insists that what you loved most in that person was never available to death. You are grieving a form. Sit with that quietly, and see whether the ache changes shape.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Arjuna is about to raise a bow, and Krishna removes the killer from the equation before he removes the killed. Both errors are the same error. To call yourself the slayer is to believe you have power over what is; to call another the slain is to believe something real was ended. Bodies fall — Krishna never denies that. But the one who acts and the one acted upon are not what dies. Notice the verse does not say the deed doesn't matter. It says you are smaller than you fear and larger than you know. Act, then, without the swagger and without the horror.